꧁ chapter twenty ꧂
scary stories

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"SUDDENLY, THEY HEARD something down the hall in the dark," Sokka told eerily while Meiluna sat with her knees up to her chest, hiding her face, "It came up into the torchlight," Sokka paused for dramatic effect,

"And they knew the blade of Wing Fung was haunted"

Meiluna let out a small gasp covering her mouth with her hand.

"I think I like the man with a sword for a hand better" Aang spoke, unimpressed with the story.

"Water Tribe slumber parties must stink" Toph added.

"Well, Luna thought it was scary!" Sokka pointed to the princess.

"This is so exciting," She clapped her hands together, "I've never been to a slumber party before!"

"Wait! I've got one! And this is a true Southern Water Tribe story" Katara sat up.

"Is it one of those 'a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happened to' stories?" Sokka rolled his eyes as he took a seat beside a trembling Meiluna.

"No, it happened to mom" Katara answered solemnly.

Meiluna felt even more scared than she already was as she scooted closer to Sokka.

"One winter when mom was a girl, a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks. A month later, mom noticed she hadn't seen her friend, Nini, since the storm. So mom and some others went to check in on Nini's family. When they got there no one was home. Just a fire flickering in the fireplace. While the men went out to search, mom stayed in the house. When she was alone, she heard a voice," Katara then spoke in a sinister voice,

"It's so cold I can't get warm!"

She paused for a moment,

"Mom turned and saw Nini standing by the fire. She was blue like she was frozen. Mom ran outside for help, but when everyone came back, Nini was gone"

Meiluna felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Where'd she go?" Sokka asked nervously.

"No one knows, Nini's house stands empty to this day, but sometimes, people see smoke coming up from the chimney, like little Nini is still trying to get warm"

"Wait! Guys, did you hear that?" Toph asked placing her hands on the ground, "I hear people under the mountain. And they're screaming"

Meiluna felt frozen to her spot.

Maybe she was lucky she didn't get to go to any slumber parties, this seemed like too much for her.

"Nice try, Toph" Sokka scoffed.

"No, I'm serious. I hear something" Toph insisted.

"You're probably just jumpy from the ghost stories" Katara reasoned.

"It just," Toph furrowed her eyebrows, "Stopped"

"Alright, now I'm getting scared" Aang spoke as he huddled with everyone else.

"Hello children"

Meiluna screamed loudly as everyone yelled in surprise, scrambling to get up from their spots.

"Sorry to frighten you," An old woman stood before them, "My name is Hama. You children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come back there for some spiced tea and warm beds?"

Meiluna perked up at the mention of tea.

Sokka sheepishly scratched the back of his neck,

"Yes please"

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"Thanks for letting us stay here tonight," Katara spoke appreciatively, "You have a lovely inn"

"Aren't you sweet?" Hama smiled as she set down her teapot, "You know you should be careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you were camping in"

"Oh no, please not another scary story" Meiluna whined quietly.

"What do you mean disappearing?" Sokka asked carefully.

"When the moon turns full, people walk in and they don't come out," She replied mysteriously before switching to a more cheerful demeanour, "Who wants more tea?"

Meiluna looked around noticing that her friends remained silent.

She shyly extended her cup as Hama smiled, pouring her a drink.

"Don't worry, you'll all be completely safe here. Why don't I show you to your rooms and you can get a good nights rest?"

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"People disappearing in the woods, weird stuff happening during full moons? This just reeks of Spirit World shenanigans" Sokka shook his head.

"I bet if we take a little walk around town, we'll find out what these people did to the environment to make the Spirits mad" Aang smiled.

"And then you can solve this little mystery lickety-split, Avatar style!"

Aang smiled proudly,
"Helping people, that's what I do"

Toph, Meiluna, Sokka and Aang then walked toward where Katara and Hama stood.

"Why don't you take all those things back to the inn?" Hama suggested kindly, "I just have to run a couple more errands. I'll be back in a little while"

She turned and started to walk away.

Meiluna turned slightly to face Sokka,
"Time to question our first witness, detective"

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"That Hama seems a little strange," Sokka spoke uneasily, "Like she knows something or she's hiding something"

"Come on Sokka, we hardly know her" Meiluna rolled her eyes playfully.

"She's a nice woman who took us in and gave us a place to stay," Katara defended as she unpacked the items she brought back from the market, "She kinda reminds me of Gran-Gran"

"But what did she mean by that comment mysterious children?" Sokka questioned suspiciously.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because she found five strange kids camping in the woods at night? Isn't that a little mysterious?" Katara countered.

"I'm gonna take a look around" Sokka replied as he walked up a flight of wooden stairs.

Meiluna and Katara shared a look before heading up to follow the boy.

"Sokka?" Meiluna called out as they approached him.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked, "You can't just snoop around someone's house"

"It'll be fine" Sokka brushed off.

"She could be home any minute" Aang said nervously.

"Sokka, you're gonna get us all in trouble!" Katara scolded, following after her brother.

"And it's just rude" Meiluna added.

"I'm not finished yet," Sokka grunted as he tugged in a cupboard door, "Come on"

The cupboard opened suddenly, revealing several wooden puppets stowed inside, held up by a bunch of strings.

Meiluna jumped back in fright, grabbing Katara's arm reflexively.

"Okay, that's pretty creepy" Aang said, staring at the puppets.

Katara angrily walked over to close the cupboard.

"So? She's got a hobby. There's nothing weird about that," She turned to Sokka, "You've looked enough, Hama will be back soon"

"Just an ordinary puppet-loving innkeeper, huh?" Sokka commented sarcastically, "Well then why does she have a locked door up here?"

"Probably to keep people like you from snooping through her stuff!" Katara retaliated in annoyance.

"We'll see," Sokka mumbled as he peered through a keyhole on the door of the locked room, "It's empty, except for a little chest"

"Maybe it's treasure!" Toph suggested excitedly.

Sokka felt his smile grow wider as he unsheathed his sword, using it to attempt to pick the lock.

"Sokka, what are you doing?" Katara scolded him as she approached his side, "You're breaking into a private room?"

"I have to see what's in there"

Meiluna let out a soft gasp as the door suddenly unlocked, creaking open to reveal the small chest Sokka had previously mentioned. She followed the others into the room out of curiosity.

"We shouldn't be doing this" Aang warned.

Sokka ignored the Avatar's words as he walked forward, picking up the chest to try and pry it open with his hands.

"Maybe there's a key here somewhere" He looked around the room.

"Ooh! Hand it over!" Toph said, extending her hands out.

Sokka handed her the chest while she removed her meteor bracelet from her arm, earthbending it into the shape of a small key.

"Come on!" Sokka encouraged her eagerly.

"This isn't as easy as it looks!" Toph huffed, pushing the key into the lock.

"Guys, I don't know about this" Aang interjected nervously.

"This is crazy!" Katara exclaimed, "I'm leaving"

"Suit yourself! Do it Toph!" Sokka said, turning to the earth bender.

Katara turned to leave when Meiluna placed a hand on her shoulder, halting her movements. Katara looked to Meiluna with an irritated expression when she noticed the Princess' eyes widen slightly at the sight of the chest being unlocked.

"Well, what is it?" Meiluna asked, stepping forward hesitantly.

"I'll tell you what's in the box"

Everyone let out a scream as they turned to see Hama standing in the doorway. Meiluna felt blood rush to her face in embarrassment for being caught shuffling through the woman's personal belongings. Hama lifted the lid of the chest and reached her hand inside, only to pull out a small item.

"An old comb?" Sokka asked in surprise.

"It's my greatest treasure," Hama smiled, "It's the last thing I own from growing up in the Southern Water Tribe"

"You're from the Souther Water Tribe?" Katara asked, looking stunned.

"Just like you" Hama confirmed as she set the comb down.

"How did you know?" Katara questioned.

"I heard you talking around your campfire" The old woman explained.

"But why didn't you tell us?" Sokka looked to her suspiciously.

"I wanted to surprise you!" Hama insisted, "I bought all this food today so I could fix you a big Water Tribe dinner. Of course, I can't get all the ingredients I need here, but ocean kumquats are a lot like sea prunes if you stew them long enough"

"Great..." Aang stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"I knew I felt a bond with you right away" Katara said happily.

"And I knew you were keeping a secret, so I guess we're both right" Sokka said smugly, looking to Katara who immediately hit his arm.

"We're sorry for sneaking around" Meiluna stepped forward, bowing her head slightly.

"Apology accepted," Hama accepted in an instant, "Now, let's get cooking!"

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"This has got to be the nicest natural setting in the Fire Nation," Aang commented, observing the scenery of the village, "I don't see anything that would make a Spirit mad around here"

"Maybe the Moon Spirit just turned mean" Toph shrugged.

Meiluna frowned, looking up to the full moon,
"You wouldn't do that, would you Yue?"

"The Moon Spirit is a gentle, loving lady!" Sokka replied angrily, "She rules the sky with compassion and lunar goodness!"

"You tell her, Sokka!" Meiluna added, jumping in to defend her sister.

"Excuse me, sir," Aang called out to a villager, "Can you tell us anything about the Spirit that's been stealing people?"

"Only one man ever saw it and lived, and that's Old Man Ding" He answered solemnly.

"Where does Old Man Ding live?" Toph asked.

The man proceeded to give them the directions to where he lived. Toph, Aang and Meiluna followed Sokka's direction when they finally came across an elderly man who seemed to be boarding up his windows.

"Old Man Ding?" Aang asked uncertainly.

"Huh?"

The man looked up, diverting his attention away from his task, leading to him hammering his own thumb.

"Ow!" He cried out in pain, "What? Can't you see I'm busy? Got a full moon rising. And why does everyone call me that? I'm not that old!"

The man returned to lifting his wood planks when he dropped the one that was in his hand.

"Well, I'm young at heart"

Aang walked up to him, helping the man lift the board.

"Not ready to get snapped up by some moon monster yet at least" He commented.

Meiluna walked over to Aang, holding the other end of the wood plank while Sokka proceeded to nail it to the window frame.

"We wanted to ask you about that" Sokka told him.

"Did you get a good look at the Spirit that took you?" Aang asked.

"Didn't see no spirit, just felt something come over me, like I was possessed," Ding explained, "Forced me to start walking toward the mountain. I tried to fight it, but I couldn't control my own limbs. It just about had me in a cave up there"

Meiluna listened intently, despite the feeling of fear claw at her chest, she couldn't will herself to ignore his words. She was at least relieved Yue wasn't the one behind all of this.

"I looked up at the moon for what I thought would be my last glimpse of light, but the sun started to rise and I got control of myself again!" He continued, "I just high-tailed it away from that mountain as quick as I could"

"Why would a spirit want to take people to a mountain?" Sokka thought out loud.

"Oh no!"

Meiluna, Aang and Sokka whipped their heads around to Toph at the sound of her voice.

"I did hear people screaming under the mountain, the missing villagers must still be there"

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"This is the place" Toph confirmed as the four of them stood at the mouth of a cave.

"I can't see anything down there" Sokka informed as he peered into the darkness.

"That's why you have me, let's go!" Toph immediately grabbed Sokka's hand, dragging him into the cave.

Meiluna bit her lip nervously as she watched Aang move to follow the pair. She quickly grabbed on to his arm, giving her a sense of safety. Aang, thankfully, didn't recoil from her touch as he simply sent her a reassuring smile before facing the front, lighting the path in front of them with the torch he held in his other hand.

"We're saved!" A voice called out.

Meiluna then came to notice the several villagers who were all chained against the walls of the cave. Toph moved quickly to use her meteor bracelet to unlock the prisoners' shackles. Meiluna followed her, moving to the now freed prisoners, to use her waterbending to heal the injuries they had sustained.

"I didn't know Spirits made prisons like this," Aang said, looking around the place, "Who brought you here?"

"It was no Spirit" A woman spoke up.

"It was a witch!" A male prisoner exclaimed.

"A witch? What do you mean?"

"She seems like a normal old woman but she controls people like some dark puppet master!" The woman from earlier explained.

Meiluna felt her movements freeze as she shared a worried look with Sokka.

"Hama"

"Yes, the innkeeper!" The prisoner confirmed.

"I knew there was something creepy about her" Sokka shook his head with anger.

"We have to stop Hama" Aang implored.

Meiluna looked to Sokka and Aang as she spoke,

"Toph and I will help the villagers, you two go!"

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Toph and Meiluna finally caught up with Aang and Sokka. Meiluna immediately noticed Katara staring intensely at Hama, who seemed to be very stiff under her gaze, grunting in discomfort.

One of the villagers walked up to Hama, effectively arresting her by handcuffing her wrists together.

"You're going to be locked away forever" He told her roughly.

"My work is done," Hama smiled sinisterly,

"Congratulations Katara," She let out a small cackle,

"You're a bloodbender"

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